>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello. you are watching gmt on "bbc world news." i am george alec gaia -- george alla gaia. -- george alagiah. reddish mps vote on whether to allow gay people to marry. -- british mps vote on whether to allow gay people to marry. the scandal of the mandoline -- magna lane -- magdalene

laundries. also, we take a look at what is happening in business. a big legal battle is brewing. >> five years on from the financial global meltdown, the credit rating agencies may have to pay the piper. the u. s. government says it will sue -- u.s. government says it will sue standard & poor's for taking on high-risk reddit ratings -- four it's high-risk -- for its high-risk credit ratings in 2007. it is midday in london, 6:0 zero in dhaka, and 5:30 -- 6:00 in dhkaka. the horrific rape in december has been reported about on " gmt." it led to a great deal of soul-

searching about how this nation of more than one billion people treats women. at this specially convened, fast-track court, the first of the prosecution's witnesses. he is understood to be the victim's male friend, with her when she was attacked. over the weekend, president pragmatically signed -- president prem at mukherjee -- pranab mukherjee signed a new law. i realize there are lots of reporting restrictions. what do we actually know about the events in court today? >> as you mentioned, only one witness took the stand. he was the key prosecution witness, the male friend of the young woman who was gang raped and then murdered last december.

he was brought here in a wheelchair. he, too, received injuries during that attack, allegedly at the hands of the five men charged in woman's murder and gang rape. also at the court, apart from the five men, the bus where the attack took place was driven into the complex. the entire day was taken up with the prosecution prove -- presenting their key witness. the court will convene tomorrow morning. the defense will get their chance to cross-examine this witness. he is the first of about 80 witnesses the prosecution is expected to field, including police officers, forensic experts, and doctors, who did their best to try to save the young woman's life. >> this whole case takes place against a backdrop in which the government, if you like, is trying to catch up with the public mood on the treatment of women.

it seems, at least as far as women are concerned, this new rape law does not do it for them. >> that is absolutely right. the government simply has not been able to keep pace with the sentiments, the anger, the sense of outrage that many people have expressed. they set up a government committee to look into a new rape law, headed by a retired chief justice. he submitted his recommendations a while ago. it was thought that the government had introduced this new law in parliament -- would introduce this new law in parliament and have a debate. perhaps because of the pressure they were under, they quickly signed this into law through a special ordinance. the president signed it on sunday night. effectively, that means it has artie come into law. anyone convicted of gang rape -- it has already come into law. anyone convicted of gang rape will face a minimum sentence of 20 years. the death penalty could also be

used. women say it is not going far enough. they want issues such as marital rape and the controversial immunity that the security forces in india enjoyed when deployed in sensitive areas in kashmir to be done away with. they want them all to be brought under this law. it is clear we have not heard the last word on this. rights groups say they will continue to campaign for stronger laws. the government says it is going ahead with this law. >> sanjoy, thanks. the war for independence in bangladesh may have been fought more than 40 years ago, but it is still alive dispute. you only have to look at the passion abuse by the special work -- aroused by the special war crimes tribunal. abdul kader mullah of jamaat e islami was found guilty of the killing of hundreds of unarmed civilians.

>> the international crimes tribunal has found mr. abdul kader mullah guilty of mass murder and rape. he has been sentenced to life in prison for the crimes he allegedly committed during the country's war of independence in 1971. the courts were packed with lawyers and media as the judges were reading out the verdict. mr. abdul kader mullah shouted slogans as the verdict was read. the main opposition, bangladesh national party, said the ruling party was carrying out a political vendetta. the government says many families in bangladesh want answers for what really happened in 1971. officials estimate more than 3 million people were killed during the war. that is why the government took

up this international tribunal in 2010, to try those bangladeshis accused of collaborating with pakistani forces and carrying out the attacks. jamaat e islami -- jamaat e islami have been holding violent protests for months. they want the trial to be stopped. there are concerns there could be more violence in the streets. catch up on some other news stories. six spanish tourists have been subjected to a sex attack near the mexican resort of our couple go -- of acapulco. the men entered the bungalow where the women were staying and tied up some of the group, then sexually assaulting six of the women. it happened in the early hours of monday. south korea's outgoing president has expressed fears that north

korea may be preparing for more than one nuclear test. the president said he had been unable to dissuade the north korean leadership to abandon its nuclear program. members of cambodia's royal family have scattered the actions of the late king on the river in front of the royal palace. the king died at the age of 89. rough ailment all is making -- rafael nadal is making a much- anticipated return to tennis. he has not played since wimbledon last year. he has slipped out of the top four for the first time in seven years. can a marriage only ever take place between a man and a woman, or should it be extended

to include gay couples? politicians in the uk will get their first chance to vote on that question later today. prime minister david cameron is a staunch supporter. many in his own party are not. let's get more on this from our political correspondent in westminster. lots of opposition within the conservative party >> the big party in the coalition government. -- the conservative party, the big party within the coalition government. but the bill is likely to go through. >> it does have support of coalition partners. david cameron does not need to worry on that front. he does need to worry because it will open up divisions within his own party, as many as 100 of his mps may vote against the idea of gay marriage. that is because they either come from traditional backgrounds, maybe they have a religious background, or they

are just from a very traditional part of the country or the idea of gay marriage just does not have any favor. >> that is the politics of it. what about the public? normally, on this program, we talk about people's worries over the economy and things like that. is there any real ups well of public opinion -- real upswell of public opinion? >> is gay marriage at the top of voters' anxiety list? no. you asked people whether they are broadly in favor of it or not, the answer tends to be that they are. i think david cameron is hoping this is the kind of thing he can deal with in midterm and, by the time of the next election, it will all die down. that's not to say there are not a lot of people opposed to it. on the whole, people are more in favor than against. >> no religious organization is going to be forced to have gay

marriages. >> that is right. david cameron did not want to have a big argument with religious organizations and anglican churches who oppose the idea. there is no question of gay marriage taking place in church. it is worth adding that, at the moment, britain is have a system of civil partnerships. same-sex couples do have the same legal rights when it comes to things like pensions or property. david cameron believes they can go one step forward -- further and have actual gay marriage, too. >> thanks very much. leader in the program, we will be debating -- later in the program, we will be debating the marriage bill. that is coming up later on "gmt ." right. it is time for the business news. let's have a look at that. standard & poor's, one of the

ratings agencies, we have heard a lot about them since the financial crisis. >> there are three big ones around the world, ratings agencies. standard & poor's, moody's, and fitch. a have come out -- they have come under a lot of criticism since the financial meltdown. they have been accused of dropping the ball, not seeing the hundreds of billions of dollars that were soon to be written off. the agencies were saying the opposite, things are looking rosy. five years on from the financial crash that triggered the global recession, credit rating agencies may finally face some legal fallout. that is because the u.s. government now plans legal action against standard & poor's, accusing the company of giving top recommendations or triple-a credit ratings to some mortgage investments when they knew the products were not safe. this is pretty important. we are talking about pretty

powerful players in the world of finance. these organizations rate the credit worthiness of companies, government, and currency, with the aim of giving investors an idea of whether it is a safe place or not to put their money. but there is a bit of a problem with the system. that problem is that these organizations are funded by the very companies they rate. many see this as a conflict of interest. that was brought into sharp focus when us homeowners could not repay their loans, sparking the collapse of the financial meltdown of 2008. some experts say these agencies do not have enough power to have played such a big part in the crisis. >> i do not think the role of the rating agency is powerful enough. if the department of justice and other people are successful in suing these people, companies like mcgraw-hill -- they are not big enough to cope with this.

it is just like everything else. if somebody does not tell you the information that you need correctly, it is very difficult for these companies to assess it clearly. the information that was imparted to banks and trading operations around the world was hopeless. >> at moveon. you've got to remember this image. the burning -- let's move on. got to remember this image, the burning oil rig that exploded in the gulf of mexico. it cost bp its reputation and certainly multiple billions of dollars. today, bp saw its profits fall in the last three months, the fourth quarter. it was slightly better than expected. profits were just under $4 billion, compared with $5 billion in a three-month. before that -- in the three-mon th period before that.

bp, to date, has spent some $24 billion on the cleanup. costs continue to rise. >> provisions already made cover about $40 billion u.s. last big hurdle are the fines -- the last big hurdles are the fines. that will come to court later this month. the fear is that those fines could be a multiple of that. it could be as high as $20 billion. this might prove to be insufficient. >> that is it. i will be back in about 20, 25 minutes. they are throwing everything in it. i will be back with more on standard & poor's in about 25 minutes. >> day with us on "bbc world news. -- stay with us on "bbc world news."

we will bring you a unique pitch inspection ahead of the game. a week after the horrific fire which killed 237 people in brazil, the university where most of them studied has reopened. santa maria university says it will now build a memorial to those who died in the fire at a local nightclub. >> most walk in silence. some carry signs. all grieving for the friends they have lost. the first day back was never going to be easy. most of those killed in the fire over a week ago were students from this university. this mother of a university student says they are crying, they are too young to be hurting. as they gathered in prayer, they remember their friends. one professor here lost more than 15 students from his class.

>> it is a semester which will end in a very unusual way. we will have to work very hard to introduce genitive activities so we can remember the people -- alternative activities so we can remember the people who passed away in a positive way and what they represented to the university. >> the blaze was one of the deadliest in brazil's history. it has brought the safety of public buildings into sharp focus. hundreds of places have been temporarily closed for not complying with safety rules. brazil is working hard to restore confidence, but it seems the damage caused by this fire may take some time to repair. >> for much more on that story, don't forget to visit us online. we have in-depth analysis of what we know about how the night unfolded at the case nightclub

-- kiss nightcflub. with the help of eyewitness accounts, we have pieced together the sequence of events . giah.eorge ala the top stories this hour -- the first prosecution witness has started to give testimony in the trial of five men accused of raping and killing a medical student on a bus in delhi. in the uk, politicians get their first chance to vote on gay marriage, but the issue is causing a rift within the prime minister office own conservative party -- prime minister's own conservative party. fbi agents have stormed an underground bunker in alabama, putting an end to a six-day standoff in which a vietnam war veteran has been holding a five- year-old lawyer hostage. jimmy lee dykes kidnapped the little boy last tuesday -- five-

year-old little boy hostage. jimmy lee dykes kidnapped the little boy last tuesday. yesterday, law enforcement officials raided the bunker. >> a 7-day standoff came to an abrupt end when the fbi stormed an underground bunker here in rural alabama. officers raided the bunker and rescued the boy within seconds after negotiations with his captor, jimmy lee dykes, broke down. dykes was confirmed dead, though no details were given. the boy known only as ethan was described as physically unharmed and taken to a local hospital. ethan's ordeal began last tuesday when dykes boarded his school bus and demanded two boys between the ages of six and eight. the driver, chuck poland, blocked his path and was shot dead. dykes then grabbed ethan. the 65-year-old vietnam veteran was described by neighbors as an angry man.he patrolled his

property with a gun. he was facing a court case for threatening neighbors. he was said by one to have beaten her dog to death. during the siege, negotiators kept talking to dykes. he allowed them to pass toys, food, and medicine through a ventilation pipe. ethan is said to have asperger syndrome.>> over the past 24 hours, our communications with the suspect had deteriorated. we were certainly concerned for the safety of the child. i can tell you that i have been to the hospital. i have visited with ethan. he is doing fine. he is laughing, joking, playing, eating -- things you would expect a normal five-year-old to six-year-old young man to do. >> vigils were held each day and night for him. friends made birthday cards. it is his sixth birthday on wednesday.

now there is cause for celebration. bbc news, washington.>> they were branded ireland's fallen women. from single women to victims of abuse, thousands were sent to wash away their sins in institutions run by nuns. laumandoline -- magdalene dndries, as they were called. justice may come today when an official report reveals how much successive irish governments knew about this. >> this is her life in the mag dalene laundries, as presented to the outside world -- a place where troubled girls would be cared for. some had fallen pregnant, often through abuse. others were since he recruited for their labor.

>> everything was taken from me. my rights as a children. my right to communicate with -- as a child. my rights to communicate with other people. >> there is a memorial to thousands of women who lived, worked, and often died in the labor laundries of ireland. they were nicknamed the nag -- magdalene's, often named as prostitutes. >> she was effectively kidnapped. she was driven under false pretenses into 20 years of effective slavery and incarceration. >> today's report will concentrate on what the authorities knew about what was really happening in the laundries. >> the state was involved in the mandoline -- magdalene laundries in numerous respects. they were not only sending in women. they were also ignoring the fact that -- they were never

following up to see if this women were released. >> survivors want an apology and compensation.vital to them is recognition that they did not deserve to be imprisoned. >> to football now. preparations are getting underway for the semifinals of the africa cup of nations on wednesday. we find out what mali fans think of their forthcoming match against nigeria. >> there are two other teams about to clash in the semifinal. mali is the third best team in africa. then there is my side, nigeria. know your enemy. i'm about to find out what the mali fans are all about. ♪

the competition is still alive and well. i knew they would be here. it is the mali fans chilling on the beach. you guys better pack your bags and go home.>> [in foreign language] >> my friends, do you honestly -- honestly believe that the eagles of mali can defeat the eagles of speaking foreign language] >> we are going to beat them. we are going to wipe them, 3-0. no way. we are in the finals. >> we shall see on wednesday. good luck.♪

those guys are clearly nuts and have no idea what they are talking about.before i meet them again at the semifinals, i'm going to head across town for one final piece of business. one of the problems organizers of this competition have faced is the state of the pitches.some of them are truly awful. i'm here to find out what this pitch looks like.-- like ahead of the mali-nigeraia game. i'm a man in a hurry. these guys have told me this is the best way to inspect this pitch. now, don't let anyone tell you that was ---- that was me screaming.

that pitch is in tip-top shape. bring it on, super eagles.>> a court in delhi has begun to hear evidence from the first 80 witnesses in the case of the gang rape and murder of a 23- year-old student in december. stay with us on "bbc world news." we have a lot more to come. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide

capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of solutions in a wide range of industries.